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BOOK REVIEW: Invoked – Hymns of War by Karan Bhatia

Pages: 200, Paperback

Published: 2016 by Notion Press

Invoked is the first book in the series of Hymns of War (a very thoughtful title, in my opinion) written by Karan Bhatia. The book is a horror thriller in the fiction genre and some of the scenes are dark and terrifying enough to give one goosebumps.

The plot revolves around Krishna, a common man who is teacher at the university, and leads a simple life with his wife, daughter and his parents. An accident changes the fate of the whole family. These attacks starts like baby steps, small, as warnings but soon turn fatal and the life of Krishna becomes painful and intolerable. He then decides with the help of a tantrik to embark on a spiritual journey to save of what remains of his family as well as himself.

The storyline of this book is like thread in which beads are being poured by the author. The size of the each individual bead are uniform but are essential to drive the story forward. It is like every scene in this book is important and its contribution is remarkable to complete the whole storyline. The first half of the book is as horrifying as it could be, with third person narrative voice that is well written and smooth at the same time.

The second of the book is where things get interesting. With the intertwine of supernatural beings, a local tantrik whose thousand times stronger than a normal human being and our protagonist being tested both physically and mentally on his spiritual journey.

The characters in this book are so calmly develop each performing their own role. It was heartbreaking when death knocked on the door of some of their lives. It was sudden, surprising and unexpected. A great joy for a reader like me. The storyline becomes so intense after 100 pages that I could not keep my nose out of it.

This book is certainly not for the faint heart. Even though I wished author would have left us with more action after the climax, I certainly felt there were less dragging elements and the genre of the book compliment the writing. If you are fan of supernatural, fantasy and horror fiction, this book is definitely for you. Cannot wait for the next title in the series.

4 out of 5!

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Read books by day and blogs about them at night. In his mid-twenties, been blogging about books for 5 years now.

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  • Shreya Madhusudan says: January 11, 2018 at 3:47 PM Ah . . . Horror *shudders😖😖*. But great review!😀

Ah . . . Horror *shudders😖😖*. But great review!😀

  • @amanhimself says: January 12, 2018 at 11:21 PM My reaction is same as yours but sometimes they are interesting, like this one.

My reaction is same as yours but sometimes they are interesting, like this one.

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